No position in any sport is more critical to team success than the NFL quarterback. On rare occasion a team can contend for a title with a mediocre quarterback, but the teams with elite quarterbacks are the ones who are either winning titles or playing well into January every year.
That’s why it’s so tough to project anything for the New York Jets in 2025. On paper, the roster looks good. Early returns on the new coaching staff are likewise good. But quarterback Justin Fields is a total wild card. When he’s at his best, he looks like he could give Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen a run for their money, but those moments are too few and far between. There’s a reason ESPN picked quarterback as the Jets’ weakest position group in 2025, after all.
The uncertainty around Fields is why he was included in a recent list of each NFL team’s biggest challenge to solve. Jeffri Chadlha, a columnist for NFL.com, picked ‘unlocking Justin Fields’ as New York’s tallest task in 2025.
Justifying his choice, Chadlha writes, “Fields couldn’t keep his job after three seasons in Chicago, and Pittsburgh gave up on him as a starter after six games last season. The Jets didn’t make a huge investment in the 26-year-old (he received a two-year contract worth $40 million) but they see the same upside that has intrigued other teams in the past. Fields can generate explosive plays with his legs. The question remains whether he can be consistent enough as a passer to elevate an offense. As much as Aaron Glenn believes in veteran backup Tyrod Taylor, Gang Green's new head man has to hope he can strike gold with Fields in ways that have yet to materialize.”
As I mentioned above, and as Chadlha alludes to, Fields has shown flashes of greatness before. He nearly broke Lamar Jackson’s quarterback rushing record in 2022 and likely would have if not for injuries. He throws a better deep ball than almost anyone else in the league. He’s a proven force multiplier in the run game (compare Chicago’s team rushing stats with Fields and then without). There’s a franchise quarterback somewhere deep down in Fields, but no coach thus far has unlocked that potential.
Is Aaron Glenn the man for the job? He very well could be. He’s running a tight ship in New York, and it doesn’t hurt that Fields’ old teammate from his college days, receiver Garrett Wilson, is already a superstar with room yet to grow. On paper, this may be Fields’ best shot at succeeding in the NFL, but we won’t know for sure until games are being played.
Until then, all Jets fans can do is cross their fingers and toes and hope that, for the first time in decades, they’ve found their franchise quarterback.